


Hope in the Fields

by Papillonae



Series: LietPol Week (2018) [5]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Animals, Excessive use of the word FREE, Freedom, Great Images for the Cover of a D-Budget Horse Movie, Horse Racing, Limited Understanding of Currency Exchange, M/M, Parody, Satire, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-20 22:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14270448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Papillonae/pseuds/Papillonae
Summary: Parody/Satire. A Farm/Ranch AU, in which Poland and Lithuania are a struggling young farming couple, but they’re in every horse movie you’ve ever seen.Written for LietPol Week, Day 5: Animals





	Hope in the Fields

“Toris! Come quick!”

The urgency of the call was what sprung Toris into action. He flew down the stairs, his shirt barely buttoned up, as he struggled to pull his boots on. He pushed himself out the front door, almost taking out the screen door in the process. Once he had stumbled off of the front porch, he found his partner Feliks standing outside at the end of the dirt road with…

_A horse_.

She was a majestic looking creature: brown - almost a warm red in the afternoon sun - with a dark brown mane and tail. She looked shyly up at Toris with eyes so big and so deep. Feliks was gently patting her on the muzzle in a very motherly way.

“I found her out around the edges of the field… some horrible person went and shot at her with an arrow!” He gestured to the poor creature’s flank, which still had a visible fletching and shaft of an arrow sticking out of it.

Feliks was inconsolable. “We’re keeping her,” he decided.

Toris pinched the bridge of his nose. “Feliks, it’s injured.”

“She’s a  _her_ , and she’s not  _lame_! I can help her.”

“Look, Feliks. We can’t afford a horse, and there’s inconveniently no animal doctor in miles, in spite of the fact that we own a farm. Now, let’s go, we’ve got to get to the city. We have an important–”

“Toris, you jerk!“ Feliks shouted angrily, stomping his foot in the dirt, “you go on ahead to the stupid finance meeting! I’m staying here with Natka.“

“Oh God, and  _you named it_.” Toris sighed. “Please, don’t be this way, I’m just trying–”

“ _YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ME_!  _YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!_ ”

And as Feliks stubbornly led the horse into their stables, Toris scratched at the back of his head. He was just as clueless as the audience was about what that even meant. He went back into the house with a resigned sigh.

* * *

Later that night, when the house was quiet, Feliks snuck back into the stables.

“ _Natka_ ,” he called out in a whisper. He was greeted by the scuffling of hooves and a gentle snort. With a smile, he shuffled in with his flashlight, a toolkit, and several first-aid supplies. It’d be a long night, and with no animal doctor around, he was going to need to improvise.

“Easy does it,” he cooed, stroking her muzzle to calm her. His hands skirted along her body, gently patting and easing her from where she laid on the hay-strewn floor of the shed. When he finally arrived at the arrow in her flank, he reached into his toolkit and breathed. “Alright girl, I’m sorry. This is gonna hurt for a while, but–“

He began the surgical procedure. The horse whinnied in pain and fright, and reflexively kicked out. Feliks managed to stay at her side in spite of her strength. Thankfully, the arrow wasn’t in that deep, and it only took a few more small incisions to remove it. “There we go, it’s alright, the worst is over,” he murmured to her in reassurance. He began the work of disinfecting the area, applying the ointment, and the long, arduous task of bandaging her.

Natka’s leg kept twitching with the pain, though she seemed grateful to have the offending object removed from her body. With each wind of the bandage, Feliks spoke:

“We haven’t had much company since we… since  _Toris_  decided that we couldn’t raise anymore livestock. Farmers aren’t making much profit anymore, especially since industries are more efficient. I know he worries about money, and that’s an important thing to worry about. But  _I’m_  important. And our animals are important too.”

He smiled up at her. “You’re an important guest, Natka. And I’m glad I found you. Thanks for listening to my exposition monologue.”

In response, she bent her head and nuzzled him affectionately.

* * *

It took over a month (or one scene transition) for her recovery, but once she was back to her old self, Feliks found that there was something of a fire in Natka that he hadn’t seen in her before.

When he took her back into the fields and unbridled her, he was taken back by her movement. At first, she set foot at a slow walk - which then turned into a canter - which then turned into a full gallop around the entire length. She was  _fast_ , and she was  _free._  The sight of her mane pulsing with her movement, of the muscles in her legs flexing hard with each gallop… such _freedom_. It left Feliks speechless, and a broad orchestral strain deafeningly played over the sweeping, _freedom_ -filled event.

Natka slowed herself as she approached Feliks in the field, and she offered her muzzle to him. He gently took her by the chin and pressed his face against hers, grinning all the while.

The music gently calmed to a few soft woodwinds to further drive the point home that this was a tender scene.

She pulled away and stepped forward until her side was facing Feliks. She looked back at him. Her eyes, now flecked with amber in the afternoon rays, looked down on him with trust and admiration. And he couldn’t believe what she was offering.

He slowly pulled himself up onto the saddle and it took time for Natka to adjust to his weight. “You’re sure?” he asked. She shook out her mane and snorted, as if to respond:  _are YOU sure?_

Feliks smirked. “Then show me what you can do.”

He’d ridden horses before, but Natka was by far the strongest and the fastest. The wind _freely_ blew through his golden hair and whipped at his loose shirt. He could feel Natka’s strength beneath him, her sturdiness and security, and he couldn’t help but laugh  _freely_ and holler with joy.

He held out his arms in pure _freedom_ and... it felt like hope. _Hope in the fields_.

The image was so  _free_ and inspirational, it was used for a movie cover.

The orchestra once again played a loud, triumphant strain as Feliks and Natka rode all through the open field.

_This was hope, this was true freedom, and there was no way anyone would hold them back_.

* * *

“You’re entering a _horse race?”_

Feliks nodded excitedly as he walked side-by-side with Toris from their most recent meeting, both of them dressed in their nicest suits. The meeting hadn’t gone particularly well; their farm had been in the red for several months, and they were advised to consider other options.

“The grand prize is 300.000 złoty. This race might be our last chance of keeping the farm,” Feliks explained. “You haven’t seen this horse in action.  _Trust me_ , Toris, I know what I’m doing–!”

Toris groaned. “I  _told you_ , we can’t keep taking chances like this–”

“ _We?_ ” Feliks stepped in front of Toris, directly confronting him, “ _I_  am the only one who is risking everything to save  _our_  farm.  _You_  are the one who is giving up.”

He took Toris’s hands into his own, squeezing them tightly. “I am willing to save what we’ve built together,” he explained, both referring to their farm and their broken relationship, as indicated by the awkward romantic tension this low-budget fanfiction had barely established between them. “Let me prove to you that Natka is special.”

* * *

The race itself was intense. There were jockeys much shorter and much more demanding of their horses than Feliks was, but he was absolutely determined. He had placed his absolute trust in Natka - the wounded, doe-eyed horse he had found several months prior - and with nothing left to lose, he felt just as fiery as the day he first rode her in the fields.

“Let’s fly, Natka.”

And as they galloped along the track, Natka quickly gained on the other racers. Toris watched from the grandstand, and he slowly stood once he saw that his partner and his horse were gaining on the lead.

The announcers spoke so fast, reading off the lengthy names of the horses, and Toris found himself shouting when they called out Natka’s racing handle as they were neck and neck, just crossing the finish line:

“ _Hope in the Fields!!!_ ”

* * *

The photo finish whited out the whole scene.

There was a silence, a single heartbeat, before the photo was revealed.

The crowd roared as Natka - the last minute entry, the injured horse, the underdog - was declared the winner.

Toris practically lept from the grandstand, and sprinted through the crowd. He was all smiles, his chest welling with so much pride.

And Feliks climbed down off of Natka as she was awarded with a shiny ribbon and a wreath of flowers around her neck. Feliks was awarded the trophy, and he managed to take a hasty shot for the press before he excitedly dove to meet Toris in the crowd.

Heedless of the weight of the trophy, he threw his arms passionately around Toris's neck, kissing him deeply on the mouth.

As they drew back, Toris took Feliks’s face in his hands. “You did it! You  _did_  it!” he exclaimed, laughing as they jumped together, “You and  _Natka_  have done it!”

Feliks’s laughter was mixed with sobbing. “ _We_  did it!” he exclaimed back, burying his face in Toris’s shoulder, “we saved our farm, our dream,  _and_  our relationship!”

Toris nodded in understanding and gently stroked the back of his partner’s head. “You make me so proud.”

Natka whinnied, lifting herself up on her hind legs triumphantly, effectively stealing the show from her two farmers and ending this low-budget horse fanfiction.


End file.
